Improvement in axes



illtted mes aient @mitre JOSEPH FRANKLIN, or sPmNcrIELnoHIo, AssIGNon To HIMsELr AND JOSEPHWHITELEY, or SAME PLACE. A

Letters Patent No. 96,416, dated .November 2, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN' AXES.

The Schedule xefen'pd to in theseLetters Patent and 'making part of the same.

description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure l is a view of one side of the improved axe.

Figure 2 is an edge view of the axe.

Figure 3 is a section through the axe, taken in the plane indicated by line :c a: in tig. 1.

Similar letters of' reference indicate corresponding parts in the several iigures.

The object of this-'invention is to improve axes which are used for-chopping wood, felling trees, aud other purposes, by giving to the sides of an axe, concave surfaces, extending from the thickest portion of the bevelled bit back to'the eye, and .making the axe the same thickness at the middle of its width that it v is at its top and bottom edges, thereby avoiding the objections attending axes having convex surfaces, and

abruptly curvedcutting-edges, as will be hereinafter explained.

To enable others skilled-in the art to understand` m'y invention, I will describe' its construction and operation. y

'lhe angle eff', is alight angle, or nearly so, and

the angle ff e' is slightly obtuse, which makes the back c, of the axe, slightly narrower than the cuttingedge a. v l

lhe cutting-edge a' lis slightly curved from e to e',

and is produced by the two bevelled sides'a a', which terminate, atb b, in` concavitics extending back to the points b b', just in i'ront of the eye; v

From the points b b' to c c, the axe is the thickest, and the sides may be flat or 'slightly bulging.

The thickness of the axe at its upper edge, at its bottom edge,nnd at the middle ot'. its width, is equal,

l so that a stralght-.edge presented tothe surlace ofthe axe, crosswise of the same, will lie. flat at all points, from the cutting-edge a to the rear end c.

Au axe thus constructed, can he readily sharpened, as there is comparativelydittle metal to be ground 0H to retain the acute angle b a' b. i Such an axe will 'not be liable to glance oi from a log while cutting, as

there is no bulge ot' metal from points b to b'. It will sink deeper under a given blow than any other axe. I t will chip more freely than other axes, as such portion of` the bevel a a does its own splitting. also bear a thinner edge without liability to break.

Itis especially adapted vfor facing posts, or hewing A timber, or making wedges, or any similar work.

Having described my invention,

1 claim, as a new and improved article of manuf:

ture, and desire to secure by Letters Patentrlhe within-described axe, which combines, in its construction, the peculiarities set forth, and substantially as shown in the drawings. l

JOSEPH FRANKLIN.

Witnesses:

DAVID M. COCHRAN, A. P. LINx COCHRAN.

It will Y 

